Synopsis

Hyoudo Riki is just an ordinary guy who likes to wear a tiger mask while Kung-Fu fighting, which means he fits in real well at BATTLE ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL!

Unfortunately for Riki, he`s the doppleganger in our world of Byoudo, Master of the Dark Realm, and when a dimensional gate opens between the two worlds, the evil Fairy Master tricks Byoudo into making an attempt to conquer our beautiful, and better lit, world.

Now poor Riki is semi-possessed by his opposite numbed, and the minions of the Fairy Master are mutating his classmates into hideous lustful monsters. To make matters worse, all the inter-dimensional commotion has attracted the attention of a sword-happy exorcist and the heroic Zankan of the Space-Time Police!

Which all means that Riki is about to take one bitch of a mid-term. The course is survival, and forget "Pass/Fail". The test is graded "Live/Die".

Pain has been given a name; and it’s Battle Royal High School. Granted I wasn’t going into my experience of this anime with high expectations of quality, but for God's sake is it too much to ask for a story that makes even the most teensy-weensy bit of sense?

I usually begin my reviews with an analysis of the story. Unfortunately after watching it I just don’t get it. Now perhaps if I did something crazy like subject myself to a second viewing I might find an unexpected bonus of plot, sort of like the toy surprise at the bottom of a box
of cereal, but who am I kidding? I love myself far too much to do that.

However what I did manage to piece together is that Hyoudo is in high school and he’s really good at karate. I will let it pass that despite being in high school he looks like he’s in his 30s and is built like an East German bodybuilder. Hey Hyoudo, save some steroids for the rest of the world would ya? Anyway Hyoudo has the very shounen goal of being the world’s strongest fighter and after kicking the crap out of his own schools karate club so he could quit and then fight other schools club members, Hyoudo gets his wish. (Just close your eyes and count to three, this isn’t supposed to make sense I guess) Conveniently there is a resident tsundere who despite being one fifth his size can kick his ass and keep him in check. This is when things take a turn for the bizarre. Suddenly a demon lord from another dimension enters the story and joins bodies with Hyoudo so he can do battle with other strange inter-dimensional beings, monsters, and future spacemen. Thus Battle Royal High School is able to combine the holy trinity of shounen action of GAR hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, and power suits with monsters, gore, and plenty of underage T&A.

As far as pure action goes, this anime isn’t all that bad. The fights are fairly entertaining if not amusing for their downright ridiculousness. The gore is over the top and the blood is spilled by the liter. These are all pretty much staples of the genre, and this show does nothing new to set it apart. The story fails completely though as mentioned. Really nothing is really explained, the ending is barely adequate.

It’s a bit redundant to call the characters in Battle Royal High School clichéd. That much is obvious, however one of the most unbelievable things to accept about the show was just how the characters looked. In particular some of the male characters that in some cases looked like old men who have no business being high school students. It’s difficult to talk about any of them because there is little time spent developing them. The action just moves from fight to fight and about the only thing we learn about any of them is the meek girl Megumi, who secretly pines for the meat headed Hyoudo.

For a 80s era show the art isn’t bad at all. The action is drawn and animated pretty well, as is the blood and gore. Typical of this era the gore is drawn with a healthy portion of bubbly intestines and spewing blood. It’s a bit silly looking but I kind of like the style. The characters are pretty silly looking, with the men all being typical muscle bound shounen beefcakes and the girls looking suitable demure and feminine.

About the nicest thing I can say about the musical performances is that they are...dated. Its typical Engrish mid 80s rock music, and the ending song in particular is a perfect example of the kind of bands that have been left to the dustbin of history. I would say the acting is as equally horrible but given how shitty the music is that’s probably not very fair.

In conclusion, all but the most diehard shounen and martial arts action fans should stay clear of this anime turd. There might be some nostalgia in it for some older fans and maybe some lulz for others. This is a public service I provide for you, I watch bad anime so you don’t have too.

To put it as succinctly as possible; This OVA is f**king insane. The plot is unintelligible, the dialogue is out of wack, the characters are barely likeable, and the pacing is enough to out stutter a heart arrhythmia. There's no clue in the 50-ish minute run time, but no clue is needed. This is chaotic, outrageous, anarchic 80s fun that clearly throws caution, logic, and copious gibs to the wind. If you hate fun and love taking yourself too seriously, steer clear, but if you don't mind hitting the off switch on your brain and diving into discord, do not avoid!!!

This is not to be confused with the manga series "Battle Royale". Battle Royal High School is a short OVA with a plot that's not very well paced, but offers insane action & well drawn animation. It's not one of those series where you can expect life philosophies such as "Fullmetal Alchemist"; it instead offers action for the sake of action. If you're looking for some violent fights then keep reading, if not then steer clear from this title.

I'm certain most people who seen this obscure OVA would wonder why I would give this a 6 or others possibly thought of this feature as
a piece of crap. Much of the highlight is due to the rule of cool & certain homages found throughout it, but before I get into that here's a better explanation of the plot.

As it turns out this OVA is a heavily condensed version of a 4 volume manga series. According to the website of anime licensing company AnimEigo, Battle Royal High School is based on a shonen manga roughly titled as shin majinden batoru royaru haisukûru which was published in Monthly Shonen Captain in 1986. Because of this compact version of the story, most people are left in confusion. While I don't know the intended plot of the original source material here's a rough summary of the premise.

Basically, there's 3-4 plots interwoven within an hour time frame with each conflict could've been its own OVA episode. First there's Rikki Hyoutou whose a great fighter & has a competitive nature who challenges several students from the martial arts club. These scenes pay a homage either to the 70's series Tiger Mask or the novels of Guin Saga, as Rikki wears a leopard mask when fighting. The story kicks in when Rikki is attacked by this powerful being known as Lord Byudo whose come from another dimension. With further explanation, Lord Byudo is a parallel counterpart to Rikki who then merge together sharing Rikki's body as a host. (Think Birdy the Mighty & Yu-Gi-Oh!) Lord Byudo then claims that this a trap by his subordinate the Fairy Master who then seeks to kill Byudo in his weakened state. To further add to the concept of travelling through dimensions, there's a certain space police organization whose purpose is to keep an eye on the space time continuum & ensure the future is unaltered. This is where the character Zankan is introduced who later transforms into this robot armor in a super sentai fashion. The last plot is more focused on the attacks of the Fairy Master as she's sending various creatures to attack humanity & infect them, thus changing them into demons. Our last character to be introduced is Yukki Toshimitsu who is a demon slayer who then partners up with Rikki in eliminating the demons from the Fairy Master.

Essentially, these three characters collaborate with each other for the safety of mankind. While the story is hard to follow it does make up with very detailed animation along with creative combat. It's a real shame that the manga is nowhere to be found online as the manga should have a better pacing to the story. One of the concepts I enjoyed from Battle Royal High School as it might have influenced certain authors. For example the idea of demonic fairies would later be found in the series "Berserk". Another interesting detail is the character Priscilla from "Claymore" whose design might be based on The Fairy Master as both are winged, blue-skinned women with a long horn on their forehead.

As said before, this OVA is meant for those who crave quick violent action with interesting concepts & cool characters. Don't expect much going into this, however do expect gore, nudity, super powers, demons, & some very bizarre moments. In other words, this is an example on how entertaining 80's OVA's can be.

Rate of 6 (fair)
seen via english dubbed
genre:action(1),comedy(2), horror(3)

Note: i am trying out a new feature with numbers on anime with multiple genres. For i am sure there are others like me that want to watch shows because they are in certain moods therefore genre is important. In terms of my numbers the lower the number the more of an impact there was. For example if there was hentai (which there really isn't i might give it a 4 or higher depending if i want to list other genres. On to the actual review.

Ego, we all have one. Some hide it better than others. While others
make it known. One of the two is the main character. Sadly, want he ends up wanting is a play off the old saying 'be careful what you wish for'. As time goes by some not a lot plot elements become confusing this was intended. Either during or after creation. For you will hear the main character make a joke about it. In honesty that was the funniest part for me for the other comical moments were to played out. Ever see a slip and fall? most often you did but unless it happens to a personal friend and you are most likely there while it happened you will find then and mostly then can you laugh. For your body like drugs has built up an immunity. Don't believe me? How about those bet you won't laugh video or better yet your sex drive.

Short hand to what would be a lengthy review

Good
-plot: prepare for the unexpected. What you think will get challenged in more ways then 1. So, be prepared to hit the pause button.

-art no complains. The art is good enough to be able too see yourself in the character's shoes.

audio: there was no static or unwanted feedback.

Conclusion remark: To whom should see this? I would say like the characters in the show would say people who are 'cocky' and those whom are W.W.E. fans per-say.